Sunday, December 16, 2007

"Woman Mistakenly Declared Dead By EMS"

Oops. (from KSAT-12)

Erica Smith, 23, was driving on Loop 410 with two passengers when the vehicle driven by 28-year-old Jenny Ybarra was driving the wrong way and collided with Smith's vehicle near Loop 410 South and Rigsby Road, police said.

Ybarra was legally intoxicated, police said.

When emergency personnel and police responded to the scene of the crash, a yellow sheet was draped over Smith, a normal practice by EMS at the scene of a fatality.

But when the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office responded to claim the body, investigators found Smith to still be alive.


Smith is still in critical condition. The actions of the EMS personnel are under review.

UPDATE: Smith has died. (KSAT-12)

5 comments:

Dave said...

Yikes! Let's hope that the delay in medical treatment doesn't result in some otherwise treatable disability. I can hear the Tough Smart Lawyer and the Pit Bull in High Heels just licking their chops!

Anonymous said...

She has died.

Albatross said...

Yes, she has. I have updated the post to reflect this.

Anonymous said...

Safety in this country is just an illusion in so many different ways. What kind of idiots are working for ems if they declare someone dead who's still alive. I hope they are sued for everything they are worth and then more. Can you imagine being alive struggling for every breath in unimaginable pain in and out of consiousness but completely helpless because some moron or group of morons are COMPLETELY NEGLECTING THEIR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES. Not to mention the girl who was driving drunk on the wrong side of the road. and she only had a 5000 dollar bond which means it's only around 500 for her to get out of jail? how does that make any sense at all? wouldn't surprise me if she didn't even have insurance.

Albatross said...

In all fairness to the EMS technicians, Fire Chief Charles Hood said they had to triage the situation at the accident scene. When they examined Smith, they made the determination that her injuries were so severe she would never survive, so they focused their energies on the other victims. Perhaps they were right. In any case, Hood is standing behind his paramedics and their decision.